


Wherever You Go, I Will Follow

by GreenArticMonki



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Excessive use of the word fuck, Excessive use of the word shit, Highschool AU, M/M, Suicide Attempt, ereri
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-29
Updated: 2017-09-26
Packaged: 2018-11-21 06:06:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11351418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreenArticMonki/pseuds/GreenArticMonki
Summary: Levi's life hasn't been great, good wouldn't even cut it. Highschool is his last chance to make his mark in the world, but what happens when a boy with astounding eyes intrudes on his alone time, to say one last goodbye?





	1. The Theory Of Life

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so this note is going to be kinda long.
> 
> 1\. I know I still have Without A Doubt to write, but it's difficult to do when I don't have any comics to go off of. Especially because it isn't my story either, so I didn't really have a plot to begin with for it. I'll write more when i either have plot ideas, inspiration for it or tumblr offers me more comics.
> 
> 2\. Aye look a new story! This came to me a few weeks ago but I've been busy finishing exams and I couldn't get the story to flow properly, until tonight. 
> 
> So I hope you like it :)
> 
> Comments are always appreciated :P

When we grow older and go through all the experiences that supposedly shape us, or whatever bullshit people tell you, we all come to the same exact conclusion. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from or how much money you have, we all at some point realise that life isn’t here to give us good times, it’s here to fuck with us, until we wonder why we even bother in the first place.

Depressing, I know.

I for one came to this realisation very early on in life, by the time I was 9 I didn’t have anyone to call mum or dad, and I certainly couldn’t tell you who cared enough about me to realise I was still around.

I made my way through the system multiple times, being the person I am, I was soon kicked out of any foster family that took me in. No one wanted to deal with a problem child by choice, so I had countless homes one after the other. By the time I turned 16 and I was able to have an apartment to myself and I didn’t have to go to another foster family, which for the system was a relief.

No more Ackerman, no more trouble.

Life only got slightly more tolerable when I started my last year at high school. Because of my situation and my being a little shit, I didn’t attend many of my classes in previous years, and so I have to make up for all of that in my final year, if I don’t then I’m pretty screwed.

I’ve made a handful of people I can call friends and keep them to a minimum, the less there are means the less I will have to worry about.

I would’ve honestly liked to have kept to myself and not made any friends at all, but on my first day I had Maths, which meant I was in the same vicinity as the first person who decided to latch onto me.

And by latch onto me, I literally mean jump all over and around me until I take it she had claimed me or some weird shit, she was batshit crazy and wouldn’t shut her dammed trap however much I glared at her. I don’t know up to this day why she chose me to leech onto, and I couldn’t really care less nowadays.

After an entire lesson of continuous talking and horrendously loud laughing, I was stopped on my way out of the classroom to be told by the very girl herself that her name was Hanji Zoe, and that we were going to be friends for the rest of our lives whether I liked it or not, then before running away she threw a piece of paper at me with her number scrawled across it.

I never could shake her off after that.

I have a few other people I met on slightly more normal terms, one named Erwin and the other Mike. I swear they’re joint at the fucking hip, I can never find Erwin without Mike and vice versa. Both Hanji and I have our suspicions about how friendly they really are, but I don’t bother to ask because I don’t really care, whether they go near each other’s assholes in their spare time is none of my business, and I’d honestly rather not think about Erwin, or Mike for that matter, in such a position.

Erwin may be a fucking tree with perfect hair and a rock-hard body, but I could never look at him in that way. Don’t get me wrong, I’m as straight as a fucking circle, but Erwin is more than just a booty call.

And our height difference would be laughable.

He’s been there for me through thick and thin, I wouldn’t want to ruin that with a measly relationship that I would fuck sideways in 0.8 seconds. With my track record, it would be over before it started and I would lose one of the closest people I have, I wouldn’t fuck everything up just because my dick told me to.

You heard it here first folks, I’m 18 and I’ve already lost all hopes of ever having a stable relationship.

Fucking go me.

But back to my main point, which seems pointless now, but I’m still going to say it because fuck how relevant it is.

Life is shit, and it always will be, but sometimes people like Hanji and Erwin come along, and they manage to make it all a little less shit.

 

-/-

 

Fuck what I said before, Hanji doesn’t make everything a little less shit, she makes it all twice as shit.

Scrap that, she makes it infinitely more shit.

It’s 9am and she’s already gone over some crap about quantum physics and how the earth rotates in a certain way that I _‘wouldn’t believe is true’_.

‘’Hanji, will you shut the fuck up for one second’’ She turns to me, absolutely unfazed by my blunt approach and carries on without a care in the world.

‘’But it’s so interesting Levi! You’re always so grumpy, I thought maybe if you heard about the exciting background of the earth’s magnetic pull that you’d, I don’t know, lighten up a bit!’’ She shouts, attracting 80% of the hall’s curious, irritated and questioning eyes.

Getting out of the awkward situation wasn’t too difficult, all I had to do was open the door to our left and drag Hanji by the arm while she babbled on about god knows what and aimlessly followed me into our first class.

English.

It was abnormally chatty upon entering, and no one broke away from their conversation to have a look at who had quite noisily fallen into the room. Apart from Erwin, that is, but he’s always waiting for us at his desk. It’s almost like we have a little routine.

How cute.

I walk over to him, with Hanji in tow, and sit down in my seat next to him.

‘’Nice of you to grace us with your presence, I take it you have some idea of why the class is like this? No one ever gossips this much so early in the morning’’ Erwin leans back in his chair and glances at me with a question in his gaze.

‘’Why the fuck would I know? I’ve been here 3 fucking seconds and all my attention has been on this massive lummox and her constant mumbling’’ I shoot back, challenging his gaze with my incredulous one.

‘’It’s because there’s a new kid in class today!’’ Hanji suddenly hollers, seemingly coming out of her little world to inform us of information that could be complete bullshit.

‘’How the fuck would you know, shitty glasses?’’ The amount of crap that spews out her mouth is usually related to science, but she is never usually wrong unless she intends to be.

So, who could the new kid be?

Everyone’s attention is quickly turned to the front of the class when the teacher walks in, Pixis. He’s old, sloppy with his approach and is an overall drunk, but he gets his job done. So who am I to complain?

Gradually people begin to take their seats and get ready to start the boring lesson that lies in wait, but even when every ass is connected to a seat, nothing happens.

Pixis slowly walks to the front of the class and gets settled in a familiar stance, he’s about to give a speech.

Fucking brilliant.

‘’Today, we have a new student joining us. He’s from out of town and knows no one other than the sister who has accompanied him on the transfer to this school. He will be joining us shortly, I’d like for you all to be nice and for no one to be an asshole. Am I clear?’’

The whole class answers in unison with a ‘yes, sir’ and a nod of the head.

He makes it sound like this kid has something wrong with him, that people would _want_ to be an asshole to him. Who the fuck _is_ this kid?

Gently, from the corner of my eye, I see the classroom door open slightly and a lithe, tall body move into the room.

Upon first observation, he seems shaggy and unkempt. But after further inspection, I realise he isn’t too bad looking. He pushes his mid-length brown hair back and his face is finally on show, he has sharp features and a strong jawline. But what really stands out are his eyes, they’re large, almost owlish, and a breath-taking mix of ocean blue and emerald green.

Fuck, I cadn’t look away.

Pixis swiftly breaks my gaze with his booming voice.

‘’ This is Eren Jaeger, as I said before he will be joining us this year.’’ He scans the room as he speaks and seems to land on the seat just next to mine, the very empty, _open_ _seat_.

‘’Eren, you can sit next to Levi for the year. Levi, try not to make him cry’’ At the mention of crying, the room begins to buz with low giggles and laughter, while Eren looks at him with an expression of mild embarrassment, but what catches my eye is the hint of anger and challenge that has sparked behind the dominant emotion.

This is going to be interesting.

 

-\\- 

 

The rest of the lesson goes on as usual, Eren doesn’t speak and I only offer him a few glances. If he doesn’t want to talk, then I’m more than happy with that.

However attractive he may be, I’d rather not get invested in something I can keep up with.

After English Hanji, Erwin and I leave the confines of the classroom and file into the packed hallway waiting just the other side of the door. I notice Eren quietly slip away after the class is over and I haven’t caught a glimpse of him since.

He probably went to find his sister, I wouldn’t blame him, this place is horrible to be in by yourself. People who are alone are quickly picked out and either bullied or have the shit beat out of them.

Safety in numbers, unless you’re me. All I have to do is look at someone and they piss themselves, unless that person is Hanji, Erwin or Mike - they’re immune to my assholery.

Every school day is a drag, it’s just shit, shit and then more shit. But I have to take in the crap that the teachers spew, because if I don’t I’ll fail, and that can’t really be an option unless I want to be fucking homeless.

So, the day slowly crawls to an end, I leave Hanji and Erwin to their own devices. Or, to put it in other words, I leave Erwin to get rid of Hanji, I can’t deal with her shit any longer.

At least not today, anyway.

I don’t feel like going home, so I wander the streets for the remainder of the afternoon until the sun starts to set for the night.

After buying a pack of cigarettes from a random corner store near the school, I start to head for one of my favourite spots to release all the stress of the day.

Or week.

Or month.

Depends how shit I feel, I guess.

I take a cigarette from the crisp packet and place in between my lips, I feel around for my lighter as I walk and light up the death stick that sits happily in my mouth.

If my mother could see me now.

Gradually, I make my way up to the school gates and scale them effortlessly. After doing it a few times it becomes second nature, and I’ve been doing this for a long while now.

Not long after moving to Trost did I discover all the nooks and crannies of the school grounds that I could retreat to when I needed time away from my life in general. At first it was a bitch to sneak around and find all the good spots, but fuck was it worth it.

That’s how I managed to come across the fact that the janitor doesn’t always remember to lock the back doors of the school when he’s finished with work, and so that leaves me with the perfect chance to sneak up to the roof and smoke my life away.

Walking up to the said doors always put me on edge, though. Because if they aren’t open then my whole plan goes to shit.

Reaching out, I hope to whatever god there is that they’re open.

I hear a soft click and the heavy metal slides forward, opening the way to the stairs inside. I swiftly slip inside and close the door behind me, making sure to make it look like no one had been here in the first place. If someone else turns up I’ll need to make a quick, clean escape, and leaving the door open would not help that.

Taking the stairs two at a time means I reach the roof in under a minute, I’d say that’s a personal fucking best.

The door to the roof is always open, so there’s no worry that I’ll be turning around now. Strolling out onto the cold concrete that covers the school building I feel the gentle breeze ruffle my hair and clothes, it’s always so quiet and peaceful up here.

I pull out another cigarette and lift it to my mouth, lighting it up and watching the embers fall away to nothing but a grey smudge in the otherwise clear air. It’s dark, but the city gives off a low, orange glow which creates enough light for me to see where I’m walking. I sit myself not too far away from the door, but just so much so that if someone were to come up, I could hide and watch unnoticed.

The floor is cold, but it’s a welcome shock to my system. It shows that I’m still alive, I’m still in this world of shit, slowly wasting space and time.

I go through multiple cigarettes and long periods of daydreaming before I realise I’m no longer alone on the rooftop. I hear the door creak and slide shut to my side.

 Stealthily, I slide backwards so I’m out of sight.

It takes me a while to have any sort of sight on the person who’s made themselves welcome in my sanction of solitude, but once my eyes have adjusted to the darkness I can make out a tall, lithe frame.

The same tall, lithe frame that became a part of my daily life no more than a few hours ago.

I watch him shuffle along the roof until he becomes uncomfortably close to the edge, which in turn makes me come out of hiding and shout out to him.

‘’Oi, Brat. What the fuck are you doing up here? It’s like 11 at fucking night. Shouldn’t you be in bed by now?’’ What I wasn’t expecting though, was what I saw when he turned around to look at me.

His eyes were puffy and red, cheeks stained with tears. His hair was even more dishevelled than earlier on and he just looked like an outright mess.

An irrational mess.

That’s stood on the edge of a fucking roof.

Shit.

I start to move forward by instinct, but the more I move towards him the further he moves away.

‘’Don’t come any closer, I’ll jump! I’ll fucking jump!’’ He shrieks, I’m stuck. What the fuck am I supposed to do?

I can’t just walk away and let this kid fucking kill himself! But if I try and do anything, he’ll kill himself!

What the fuck!

I match my stance to his, the only difference is that I’m roughly 3 meters away from the edge of the building and he’s got his toes hanging off the roof.

‘’Okay, okay. Can you not just, you know, move away from the god damn edge of the roof? You’re scaring the shit out of me’’ My comment only seemed to do the opposite of what I intended though, he flinches away and loses his footing on the roof.

In the blink of an eye, I reach out to grip his wrist, but I’m too late.

He’s slipping away, and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it.


	2. I have a comfortable couch?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay... so I know it's been like four months.
> 
> I've decided this fic will be completely self indulgent, and that I will write when I feel like it and when I want a break from college work. I'm feeling pretty inspired right now, but I can't promise that will last.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter, even though its taken me literally months to get it out to you.
> 
> Sorry! >.<

I never knew my father, I was told by my mother that he had ‘gone away for a little bit’ and that ‘he would be back soon’. But I’ve never met him once in my life, and I don’t intend on finding him. It was obvious the older I got that he was never coming back, and that he was in fact a deadbeat asshole who took off as soon as he realised I was coming into the picture.

As for my mother, she decidedly took her life when I was just 8 years old. Imagine that, an elementary school kid coming home to find his mother hanging from her bedroom ceiling, lifeless and unmoving. It still haunts me to this fucking day, and for that I’ll never forgive her.

She left me alone and scared.

I couldn’t even stop her, I’ll never know if I could have talked her out of it if I had just been a few minutes earlier, or if I had noticed the signs. To think, 8-year-old me blamed myself for her suicide, how fucked up is that.

But that thought alone, that I couldn’t save her, however much I may have tried, is what pushes me forward in such a situation as the one I’m in now.

I may have seen Eren slip over the edge of our school building, but I won’t give up hope.

I can’t.

I sprint forward as he falls and use a one last ditch attempt to reach out and grab his falling hands. The palm of my hand connects with the soft skin of his wrist and relief floods through my system, I’ve got him.

But as soon as I’m relieved, the little brat decides to be a fucking moron and try to wriggle out of my grasp.

‘’What the fuck are you doing?! I’m saving your fucking life you little brat!’’ I shout, to which he glares at me with the most determined look in his shining bright eyes.

‘’Does it look like I want to be fucking saved!? Let go you dwarf!’’

Oh he didn’t just fucking say that, I’m going to save his ass just so that I can kill him myself if he carries on.

With one large yank I pull him back onto the roof, much to his dislike and protest. I keep a firm grip on his wrist because I’m not thick, as soon as I let go he’ll go running again, and we can’t have that, I haven’t beaten the shit out of him yet.

He struggles against my tight grip and almost gets away, but I decidedly pin him down in a more strategic way, by straddling his hips and pushing his hands beside both sides of his head.

Now, to anyone who would walk in at this very moment, it would look like we were two teenagers who had gotten a little carried away, but obviously it is anything but that. I’d never even think about getting into this sort of position with the kid underneath me, even if he does have undoubtedly beautiful eyes… and smooth tanned skin.. and—

‘’Ahem..’’

I’m swiftly broken out of my thoughts by a loud interruption from the boy himself, who is still underneath me, and looks extremely pissed off about that fact. Who the fuck does he think he is looking at me like that? I just saved the kids shitty life!

‘’Can you stop staring at me all creepy like and move the hell off of me? You’re surprisingly heavy for such a small guy and I never imagined myself dying via suffocation’’ He smirks up at me, surprisingly sassy after such a trauma of dangling off of a fucking roof, knowing he’s caught me off guard and angered me further all the same.

‘’You know what kid, fuck you. I just saved your damn life, so no, I won’t get off of you. If I get up you’ll leg it and I have many a fucking question to ask you before you move a single fucking muscle.’’ I snap back, he gives me an incredulous look in response. But not a moment later there’s a strong sense of defiance hiding behind his glimmering eyes, and before I know it I’m flipped ass over tit and our positions have been switched entirely. ’’What the fu—‘’

Eren moves ever so close to my face, and just as he’s inches away he smirks at my confusion, ‘’I’m sorry, what was that? I’m not moving a single muscl—‘’ but before he can finish I take advantage of his vulnerable confidence and begin to wrestle him for dominance.

A squeak of surprise from Eren only spurs me on to regain the hold I had on him in the beginning, but he also seems to have other ideas.

Our wrestling goes on for what seems like hours, but what began as a fight for control has soon morphed into that of playfulness. There’s no longer the rough edge of pinning limbs and primal strength, only that of two people who could be easily mistaken for childhood friends.

We roll around on the roof top trying to catch each other and pin one another down, seeing who can do it first to win. In the end, I manage to take hold of his firm biceps and pin him to the floor. We’re both lost for strength and determination, so Eren lies on the ground, beaten fair and square.

‘’Well, that was definitely invigorating’’

I ignore his comment, seeing no need for small talk. ‘’Don’t try and use big words, you’ll hurt yourself’’ I tease, ‘’let’s get straight to the point, I’m done with fucking around. What the hell are you doing up here, on the edge of the roof no less’’

Eren goes stiff underneath me, sudden realisation flooding through him that I’m not fucking around, and that I actually want to know why the hell he’s here. ‘’Well, I-I… I don’t want to talk about it. It’s none of your business anyways’’

This kid has got to be fucking kidding me. Is he serious right now?

He cant be bloody serious.

‘’Look, kid. I just saved you from a god knows how long drop to your inevitable death. I think I deserve an explanation for why I almost choked on my cigarette smoke and felt my stomach in my ass’’

 I don’t know what he expects, but he isn’t going anywhere until he gives me a half decent explanation, that’s for sure.

We sit in silence for a considerable amount of time before Eren seems to give up and cave in. He relaxes against my grip and gives a long-suffering sigh.

Here we go, fucking finally.

‘’I had an argument at home’’

… that’s it?

‘’Well, that’s not it but the specifics don’t matter and you wouldn’t understand’’

I must have spoken aloud.

Or Eren’s a psychic.

I don’t think the second one is too likely, so let’s go with the former.

‘’Well that’s a lot less dramatic than I was expecting’’ I mumble, releasing his arms from my vice like grip so that he can sit up, ‘’I would have thought you were involved in a drug deal gone wrong or some shit if your fucking behaviour is anything to go by’’

He snorts, I take it it’s because I amuse him.

“I’m glad I make you laugh kid” I mumble, while slowly, but surely, moving myself from his lap onto the concrete next to him. “So, wanna… uh, talk about it maybe?”

Why am I so crap at this?

Get your shit together, Levi.

Jesus.

“No, not really.”

“Well what _do_ you want to do?”

He sits there with a thoughtful look encompassing his face, his eyebrows are knitted together and his lips are slightly turned down.

He’s kinda cute, in a lost puppy sort of way.

After a few minutes, his face seems to soften considerably, but the edge of concentration is still there. He straightens up and finally looks my way, “all I know, is that I don’t want to go home. I don’t ever want to go home”

I frown, this kid can’t be serious. I’m not exactly straight laced or a model child but even I wouldn’t go as far as running away from home because of a measly argument. I decide to divert from the topic of home for now though, “well you can’t stay out here all night, you’ll get cold and that’ll make you ill and that’s just disgusting. I can’t sit next to you in class with you spreading germs everywhere. That’s damn unsanitary.”

Again he snickers, I must be a comedian.

“I’ll find somewhere, I have other times. I won’t get ill, and if for any reason I do, I’ll just skip school for a few days. It’s no big deal.” _Other times?_ This kid’s done this before?

I can’t just leave him out here, if I do I won’t stop thinking about it all night and it’ll ruin my already crap sleeping pattern. I could invite him to my place? What the fuck am I thinking, I hardly know the kid! But I did just save him from certain death… but I only met him earlier today! He could be a secret serial killer for all I know.

Suddenly, Eren gets to his feet beside me. He brushes off the dirt that must have collated on his jeans in the short space of time that he’s been up here and turns to me, “well I better get going” He trails off as he looks out at the city that’s slowly darkening as the night progresses.

“Stay at mine tonight” I blurt out, my brain not too sure who’s in charge here.

Eren quickly whips around and almost stumbles from the abrupt request, looking very bewildered and uncertain in how to reply.

“I mean, just for tonight. You don’t have to, but it’s better than sleeping on a bench and I have a half decent couch you could crash on” I casually add, while trying to keep completely calm and not laugh at his open-mouthed surprise.

‘’Uh… you really don’t have to. I wouldn’t want to be a burden-‘’

‘’Stop right there’’ I interrupt ‘’I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t mind, but if you’d rather risk sleeping on a rusty old bench where anyone could take you while you’re sleeping, then be my guest.’’

Eren stands there with a dumfounded look on his face, I don’t get what’s so hard to understand? Just say yes or no, it’s not that fucking hard.

Maybe this kid is thicker than I thought.

‘’If I say yes… then will you promise not to bring this whole night up ever again? No more questions?’’ He mumbles, looking dejected and defeated.

I smirk, ‘’what night? I have no idea what you’re talking about’’.

 

-/-

 

Getting off of the roof and finding our way back to my apartment wasn’t as hard as I was expecting it to be. Eren was quiet the entire time, and never once did he try and change his mind about coming to stay at mine for the night. For all he knew I could be an axe murderer that was luring him to his death, but he didn’t really seem bothered by that fact at all.

I really don’t understand this kid.

Once we reach the main lobby of my apartment building Eren decides to slow his pace considerably. I turn to look at him, slightly annoyed that he’s slowed down our pace unnecessarily.

‘’What’s wrong?’’ I question, staring blankly at the phone that lays in his hand. He seems to be writing out a reply, to whom I have no idea, and his face has turned from the plain impassiveness that was there before to a sour frown that has knitted his brow together.

Looking up he shrugs, pocketing his phone as if nothing had happened and moves straight past me to get into the free elevator that has just opened behind me.

I follow him warily, eyeing him from the side as I press the button to my floor. ‘’Who was it?’’

He mumbles something incoherent and seems reluctant to carry on any further conversation, so I leave him alone. I’m never one to complain about being in complete and utter silence, I find it therapeutic.

The elevator pings as it notifies us of our arrival to my floor, and its doors swiftly slide open to reveal the hideous generic carpet that the apartment block has chosen for all of its hallways. And yes, they’ve used it for every single hallway in this complex, I checked. I wasn’t going to be on the only floor with this carpeting and not kick up holy fuck about it. But as it turns out, I’m suffering alongside everyone else who lives here.

Hooray for unity.

After shuffling down the hallway, we finally make it to my front door, and before we even go in I tell Eren to remove his shoes immediately upon entering, and give him no room to argue about it.

My apartment is definitely nothing special, but I like to make the most of what I have. I keep it clean and I keep it tidy, for my own pleasure of course. I couldn’t give a single crap what anyone else thought about how I keep my place, as long as it’s up to my standards, then everything is fine.

As we walk in a begin a mini tour of the apartment, ‘’So, obviously this is the living room and where you’ll be staying for the night’’ I start with, gesturing to the couch for Eren’s benefit of course. ‘’just through there is the bathroom, and then right next door is my room. So, if you get up to piss in the night, make sure you make the least amount of noise possible. I don’t want to be woken up’’

Eren briefly looks around, taking his time to take in his new surroundings.

‘’It’s so clean’’

Oh, for Christ’s sake.

‘’If that’s all you have to say then I’m going to bed, there are extra pillows and blankets in the closet over there’’ I point out lazily towards the door on the other side of the room, ‘’Try not to make too much noise’’.

I slink out of the living room and leave Eren to his own devices, after hearing a cheerful ‘thankyou’ and ‘goodnight!’ from him, I’m satisfied that he’s capable to managing himself. It doesn’t take me long to change into a loose pair of joggers and a t-shirt before I’m lying in bed and scrolling through my phone. I think about the evenings occurrences, and how the fuck I managed to get myself involved with a kid I hardly even know.

I hear little else from Eren for the rest of the night, only a few bumps and grunts from him getting comfortable on my not so comfortable couch. I know, I told him it wasn’t too bad, but I couldn’t have the kid out sleeping in a park somewhere. I’d feel responsible if something happened to him when I could have done something…

When I could have done something…

Locking my phone, I place it on my bed side table, making sure to set an alarm for slightly earlier in the morning than usual.

I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a long day.


End file.
